By Dot turns sixty-six next week. I don't feel sixty-six. I feel forty-five with bad knees. But the calendar doesn't care about feelings, and the knees are a factual reminder that my body has been standing at stoves and carrying pots and kneeling in gardens for five and a half decades, and that kind of mileage shows.
The doctor wants me to think about the knees more seriously. Dr. Morton — my general practitioner, a man who has been telling me to slow down since 2015, which is when I started ignoring him — he says the left knee needs attention. Possible replacement, down the road. Not now. Not yet. But the conversation is starting, and I don't love it. My knees are mine. They carried me through Hodge Elementary and through the garden and up the stairs to the bedroom I shared with Earl and down the aisle at Kayla's graduation. I don't want new knees. I want these knees to cooperate. But knees, like husbands, don't always cooperate. You love them anyway.
The book arrives in two weeks. Advance copies. Caroline said they'll send five for me to hold before the official publication in October. Five copies of my life in my hands. I keep trying to imagine what it will feel like and I can't, the same way I couldn't imagine what holding Amara would feel like until I held her. Some things you can only know by experiencing. A book with your name on it. A great-grandchild in your arms. A loss that rearranges your DNA. You know them when they arrive. Not before.
Made a birthday dinner for myself — early, because next week the family will make the fuss and I won't be in charge. Tonight it's just me: shrimp and grits, cornbread, a glass of sweet tea, and the satisfaction of having lived sixty-six years without apologizing for any of them. Well. Maybe I apologize for the time I burned Earl's birthday cake in 1994. That was inexcusable. But everything else — no apologies.
Now go on and feed somebody.
The shrimp and grits were the centerpiece, but no birthday dinner of mine is complete without something warm and bread-like to go alongside it — something that requires a little patience from the oven and rewards you with something puffed and golden and just right for one person at a table set with intention. Popovers for two have become my answer to that need: quick enough for a weeknight, special enough for a birthday, and perfectly portioned for a woman who has earned the right to cook exactly what she wants and no more. If you’ve got an extra on hand, all the better — but tonight, both of them were mine.
Popovers for Two
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 40 minutes | Servings: 2 (3 popovers each)
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup whole milk, room temperature
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted, plus extra for greasing
Instructions
- Preheat and heat the pan. Place a 6-cup muffin tin or popover pan on the center rack and preheat oven to 450°F. Letting the pan heat in the oven is what gives popovers their signature dramatic rise.
- Make the batter. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs and milk together until fully combined and slightly frothy, about 1 minute. Add flour, salt, and melted butter; whisk until the batter is smooth. A few small lumps are fine — do not overwork it.
- Rest the batter. Let the batter sit at room temperature for 5 minutes while the oven continues to heat. This brief rest relaxes the gluten slightly and helps with even puffing.
- Grease and fill. Carefully remove the hot pan from the oven using oven mitts. Brush each cup generously with butter — it should sizzle on contact. Fill each of the 6 cups about 2/3 full with batter.
- Bake hot, then reduce. Return the pan to the oven immediately. Bake at 450°F for 15 minutes without opening the oven door, then reduce heat to 350°F and bake an additional 15 to 17 minutes until the popovers are deep golden brown and feel hollow when tapped.
- Pierce and serve. Remove from oven and use a thin knife to pierce the side of each popover to release steam — this keeps them from deflating too quickly. Serve immediately with butter, honey, or alongside whatever else is on your birthday table.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 310 | Protein: 12g | Fat: 11g | Carbs: 40g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 380mg